Christopher Barzak

Which way do you spin?

I just did this right brain/left brain test and am so weirded out.  It’s a test to see which hemisphere of the brain you use more.  Initially I saw the image of the dancer going clockwise, the right brain way of seeing it.   And I watched it and watched it and couldn’t see it the left brain way until I decided to focus on her shadow, and when I looked back up she was spinning counter clockwise.  Then I couldn’t see her going any direction but counter clockwise.  I thought for a while maybe this was timed and messing with me maybe?  So I focused on her shadow again and when I looked back up at her she was going clockwise again.  Then I didn’t even have to focus on the shadow but could focus a little while watching her spin and she’d switch directions right before my eyes.  I am probably freaked out by this more than I should be.  Our brains and eyes and their relationship is so odd, though, isn’t it?

Tell me if I’m flipping out or if this happens to you too.

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Christopher Barzak

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6 responses to “Which way do you spin?”

  1. Matt Cheney Avatar
    Matt Cheney

    Don’t freak out — it’s just an optical illusion, and people respond to it in various ways. It doesn’t really have much to do with the “left brain/right brain” idea, since that’s at best a tremendous simplification of brain lateralization studies. (If you’ve got a functioning corpus collosum, don’t worry too much about which side of the brain you’re using…) No need to worry!

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  2. Christopher Barzak Avatar
    Christopher Barzak

    LOL, I kind of figured it was an oversimplification, but it’s weird feeling nonetheless. Not worried, just enjoying the brain games.

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  3. Lucy Avatar
    Lucy

    At first, the dancer was turning counter-clockwise, but then I just kind let myself zone out and she started turning clockwise. I’ve been clicking on and off to see if it’s different, but she’s still turning clockwise now. I wanted clockwise, and to me, half of the fun of these tests is manipulating the answers (kind of like how I manipulated the answers on my Harry Potter lover test so that I would end up with Sirius Black). I have no idea, however, how her direction changed. A little freaky, but mostly just fun.

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  4. fusakota Avatar
    fusakota

    これって変（へん）！

    時計（とけい）回（まわ）りのときは、軸足（じくあし）が左（ひだり）足、

    反対（はんたい）のときは、軸足が右（みぎ）。

    きっと、目（め）の錯覚（さっかく）とか、右脳（うのう）、左脳（さのう）の問題（もんだい）なんかじゃないよ。

    Reply
  5. Steph Burgis Avatar
    Steph Burgis

    Ooh, that is freaky…I could only see it turning clockwise, which actually felt really disturbing because I knew it ought to be possible to see it turning the other way. It makes you realize just how untrustworthy our visual perceptions can actually be, which is a REALLY freaky thing to think about!

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  6. fusakota Avatar
    fusakota

    ごめん、クリス、そんなに単純（たんじゅん）じゃなかった。

    あきらと二人で見（み）たんだよ。

    そうしたら、わたしは最初（さいしょ）、時計（とけい）回（まわ）り、途中（とちゅう）から、反対（はんたい）になったり、元（もと）に戻（もど）ったり、一瞬（いっしゅん）止（と）まったりした。その間（あいだ）ずっと、あきらは時計回りのまま。

    だから、降参（こうさん）。認（みと）めるよ、これって、右脳と左脳の使（つか）い分（わ）けなんでしょ？

    あきらが左脳人間（にんげん）とは思（おも）えないけど…。

    Reply

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